Device for the manufacture of peat band rolls

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for use in winding peat band rolls is provided wherein a pair of winding rolls is adapted to engage opposite sides of the forming peat band roll which is carried on a conveyor belt. The winding rolls are connected to rotatable lever arms which are in turn connected to eccenters, the eccenters being adapted to lift said winding rolls away from the completed peat band roll to permit its removal by the conveyor belt.

nited States Patent [1 1 Nisula [54] DEVICE FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PEAT BAND ROLLS [75] Inventor: Pentti Samuel Nisula, Hamevaara,

Finland [73] Assignee: Lannen Sokeri 0y, Lansi-Sakyla,

Finland [22] Filed: May 30, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 365,183

[52] US. Cl. 242/55, 242/DIG. 3 [51] Int. Cl B65h 75/00 [58] Field of Search 242/55, 55.01, DIG. 3

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,706,094 4/1955 Dyken 242/DIG. 3 UX 2,849,191 8/1958 Gadler 242/DIG. 3 UX 2,881,984 4/1959 Dyken 242/DIG. 3

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,071,382 8/1954 France 242/DIG. 3

[4 July 23,1974

715,469 9/1954 Great Britain 242/DIG. 3 191,731 9/1957 Germany 242/D1G. 3 172,812 9/1960 Sweden 242/D1G. 3 2,007,543 9/1971 Germany 242/D1G. 3

Primary Examiner-John W. Huckert Assistant Examiner-Milton S. Gerstein Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Bierman & Bierman [5 7 1 ABSTRACT Apparatus for use in winding peat band rolls is provided wherein a pair of winding rolls is adapted to engage opposite sides of the forming peat band roll which is carried on a conveyor belt. The winding rolls are connected to rotatable lever arms which are in turn connected to eccenters, the eccenters being adapted to lift said winding rolls away from the completed peat band roll to permit its removal by the conveyor belt.

10 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENTED JUL? 3 I974 SHEEY E OF 5 j DEVICE FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PEAT BAND ROLLS A previously known method and devices for producing seedlings, and wood seedlings in particular, is to use two or more rollers arranged to tear peat brought from .the peat stock by conveyor, at which a conveyor, for instance a belt conveyor, is situated underneath the mentioned rollers for transporting from a stock roll base membrane of plastics, cellophane, paper, or such material, upon which the peat torn by the rollers falls to form a peat band, at which at the discharge end of the belt conveyor a rolling or winding device is located, by means of which the peat band including base membrane can be wound to a roll. This winding device consists of two rotatably mounted winding rollers at the lower end of a lever arm with upper end swingably connected, which are arranged in such a way, that in rotating they contact from opposite sides the plastic-peat band roll started by hand or, for instance, brought to a start by the winding device itself, and continue winding the peatband continuously transported by the conveyor belt to a roll.

This invention aims at improving the above described devices for making peat-band rolls. The invention is essentially characterized by that which is presented as characteristics of novelty in the patent claims.

The invention is clarified further in the following specification and in the enclosed drawings. FIGS. 1 and 2 present schematically and greatly simplified the winding device known today from the side, FIG. 3 presents the winding machine according to the invention from the side, FIG. 4 from one end, and FIG. 5 certain details from the side on a larger scale than above. FIG. 6 presents a partial projection of the winding roller taken separately, and FIGS. 7 and 8 schematically eccentric plates of different shape in connection with the machine.

FIG. 1 shows the right-hand part of the endless belt 1. The belt 1 is moving in the direction of the arrow 2 and turns about the end roller 3 moving the belt while rotated mechanically about its shaft 4. Plastic membrane is fed on the belt from a roll (not shown in the drawing) and on top of this a relatively finely torn layer of peat 5. To the peat may be added fertilizers and seeds, or the seeds may besown later into the end of the roll wound from the layer, or into the ends of slices cut from this roll, at which the roll or the slices are raised to upright position, i.e., its axis is turned vertical and the seeds are allowed to germinate. In the corresponding manner cutting, etc., may also be plantedinto the peat layer.

The peat band is would at first by hand or possibly also mechanically to a small roll bank 6, which is brought to follow the belt to rest against the hindmost roller 7. After this also the foremost roller 8 is lowered against the roll blank 6. r

The rollers 7 and 8 are joined to the lower ends of the lever arms 9 and 10, while the lever arms are turnably joined to axles 11 and 12. The rollers 7 and 8 are mechanically rotated in the directions of the provided arrows. As the roll 6 is growing to the size of the larger roll 6a (FIG. 2) the rollers 7 and 8 are turning higher on their respective lever arm, and after reaching about the position shown in FIG. 2 they are lifted up simultaneously on their lever arms, at which the finished roll 6a leaves its place under the rollers following along with the belt and is replaced by-a new roll blank 6 seen in FIG. 2. The rollers are lowered in the abovedescribed manner and a new winding stage sets in. The H68. 1 and 2 have only presented the winding machine schematically.

The other figures present details of the winding machine according to the invention. The invention concerns mainly the above-mentioned automatic lifting and lowering of the lever arms 9 and 10. FIG. 3 shows also the supporting rollers 13 supporting the belt 1; According to the FIGS. 3 and 4 pairs of extensions 14 and 15 are rigidly connected to the upper ends of the lever arms 9 and 10 to turn along with the lever arms on the axles l1 and 12. Between the extension pairs are rollers 16 and 17 rotating on respective axles. The axle bearings 11 and 12 at the ends of the extensions 14 and 15 are supported by a frame construction consisting of vertical beams 18, and resting on these a horizontal beam 19, having a central axle 20 mounted on it to which eccentric plates 21 and22 are connected. Seen in the direction of the axle the eccentric plates are in a position to one another shown with whole lines or partly whole lines, or in the position shown in the lower part of FIG. 3 where they are taken separately from other connections and placed side by side.

When according to FIG. 1 the axle 20 including eccentric plates is tuming clockwise, they lift by means of the rolls l6 and 17, the arms 14 and 15, as well as the arms 9 and 10, the rollers 7 and 8 away from each other and higher along the periphery of a circle. When the rolls 16 and 17 have reached that part of the eccentrics which is circular with respect to the axle 20, the axles of the rolls remainin their upper position. When the eccentrics are turning further the rearmost roller 7 is at first falling downwards very fast to its lowest position, where it is stopped by the counter tap 23. The foremost roller 8 is descending downwards only a little later, and on account of the bend 24 seen in the eccentric plate 22 the roller 8 descends fast, at first only to the position shown by the symbol 8a, and then from here only after a while to the position shown by the symbol 8 against the counter tap 25. During the time when the foremost roller is in the position indicated by 8a, the roll blank 6 has time to move under it with the belt 1 to lean against the roller7. And only after this the roller 8 drops against it. The axle 20 now stops rotating and the eccenters stay in the position shown in FIG. 3 partly with whole lines, at which the rollers 7 and 8 are able to ascend freely upwards as the roll is growing to the size 6a. In order to remove it from the belt the axle 20 is again brought to rotate one revolution, at which the above-mentioned operations in lifting and lowering the rollers 7 and 8 are repeated.

Rotating the axle 20 one revolution takes place with the aid of a pawl wheel device mounted to the right end of the axle 20 as seen in FIG. 4. This pawl wheel mechanism is not seen in FIG. 3 but is presented in FIG. 5 seen from the opposite side and on a larger scale. A chain wheel 26 is mounted to the axle 20. The chain 27 receives its motion from a chain wheel connected to the end roller 3 of the belt wheel and is then passing over the cogwheels 28, 26, and 29, so that the chain wheel mounted on the axle 4 of the end roller 3 in this way is rotating the chain wheels 28, 26, and 29. The axles of the chain wheels 28 and 29 also are provided with other chain wheels 50 (FIG. 4), and the axles of the rollers 7 and 8 likewise chain wheels 51, including endless chains 52, so that the chain wheel 29 rotates the roller 8 and the chain wheel 28 the roller 7. The rollers 7 and 8 always rotate when the end roller 3 of the conveyor belt rotates, also when the lever arms 9, 10 are turning. The rollers 7 and 8 always rotate with the same peripheral velocity as the roller 3 and the belt 1 moving on same. As the size of the roll 6 is growing gradually to the size 6a its rotational velocity decreases, but the peripheral velocity always stays the same as the velocity of the belt 1, and correspondingly the peripheral velocity of the rollers 7 and 8 is always the same as that of the roll 6a.

The chain wheel 26 has a rigidly fixed plate wheel 30 provided with a pivot 31 for turning a pawl 32 having a tooth 33 which can be brought to contact with the cogs on a cog wheel 34 rigidly mounted to the axle in the manner presented in FIG. 5, which position of the pawl 32 is maintained by the pulling spring 35. The pulling spring 36 is pulling the lever 37 against the pawl 32, at which the check on the arm 37 detaches the pawl 32 from contact with the cog wheel 34, upon which the cog wheel 26 including plate wheel is able to rotate freely about the axle 20 which has stopped rotating. When therafter the handle 38 in FIG. 5 is turned to the right on its axle 39, the lever 37 correspondingly turns to the left loosening its grip on the pawl 32 which due to the pulling of the spring 35 reaches contact with the cog wheel 34 and rotates thus the axle 20 one revolution, upon which the pawl 30 again is brought behind the check on the lever 37 as the spring 36 is pulling the lever 37 to the position shown in FIG. 5, upon which the pawl detaches from the cogs and the axle stops again. In this way by pulling the handle 38 the axle 20 can be rotated one revolution at a time, at which the rollers 7 and 8 ascend to upper position and then descend on top of the peat-roll blank in the abovedescribed manner, from which position they are able to rise freely upwards as the peat roll is growing.

The bend 24 in the eccentric plate keeps as mentioned above the foremost roller 8 some time in a position between its uppermost position and lowest position. However, if it turns out that this time in some cases is too short, as for instance in winding the roll blanks for hand, feeding them under the roller 8 when this is in the intermediate position just mentioned, the roller 8 can be locked to the said intermediate position for a greater length of time. To accomplish this the axle 12 has a rigidly connected arm 53 which when the roller 8 is in the mentioned intermediate position is turned to the position seen in FIG. 5. The shoulder 40 keeps the arm 53 and the roller 8 in the said intermediate position until the handle 41 is pushed to the right so that the handle including shaft and the shoulder 40 turn about their axle 42 to the extent that the arm 53 is able to turn further downwards, and correspondingly the roller 8 is descending to its lowest position seen in FIG. 3.

This last-mentioned drop of the roller 8 occurs comparatively slowly, because then the roller 8 is turning very gently towards the side and downwards and the roller 8 cannot hit too hard against the roller blank. The shoulder 40 is balanced and sprung in such a manner, that it seeks to maintain the position seen in FIG. 5 and the arm 53, in rising from below upwards as the roll blank 6 is growing, is able to turn the shoulder 40 towards the left and rise upwards from under it, and the shoulder then returns to the position seen in FIG. 5,

from where it can be swung to the left by turning the handle 41, so that the arm 53 being stopped by it is able to turn downwards passed the shoulder.

As the rollers 7 and 8 are very heavy they tend to sink by their own weight too rapidly, especially at the stage when the pulling phase of the chain 27 in lifting the rollers 7 and 8 changes to braking phase as the rollers 8 and 9 are descending. On this account the axle 20 has a brake wheel 43 mounted rigidly, somewhat eccentrically on the axle 20. A stationary brake shoe 44 on the lower side of the circumference of the brake wheel 43 covers only a given circular distance along the lowest part of the said circumference. The brake wheel 43 is mounted eccentrically on the axle 20 in such a way, that just at the stage when the rollers 7 and 8 tend to drop downwards too rapidly the circumference of the brake wheel 43 is pressing harder than usual against the brake shoe and thus retarding by braking the rapidity of dropping. By using a brake shoe and shaping it suitably eccentric it is possible also to replace the eccentric plates 21 and 22 with such plates of different shape, for instance eccentrically mounted circular plates 21a and 22a in accordance with FIG. 8, or eccentric plates 21b and 22b shaped according to FIG. 7.

The rollers 8 and 9 are suitably covered by rubber sheet with rubber pegs 45 the way the partial projection 6 of the roller indicates. Rubber pegs like these stick extremely well to the surface of the plastic membrane, and it is important that the rollers 7 and 8 are detached simultaneously from the peat roll, because when the roll 6a has become sufficiently heavy even one roller 7 or 8 will rotate it, and the roll 6a wont yield from the grip of the roller 7 if only one of the rollers 7 or 8 are raised. When the rollers 7 and 8 during the winding stage of the roll are able to rise freely upwards as the roll is growing, they will suitably move upwardly if there happens to be some thicker point in the peat layer, such as an undecayed knot which is then able to pass under the rollers 7 and 8.

When the roll 6a has grown sufficiently large in diameter peat layer on the conveyor belt approaching the roll is wiped off the plastic band over a short distance. The plastic band is cut off at this point, for instance by a knife across the conveyor belt 1. The peat-free upper surface of the plastic band to the right of the cut in FIG. 2 is stroken with a little glue so that this end in winding on the roll 6a is glued against it and the roll 6a thereafter is unable to unroll.

The end of the plastic band to the left of the cut in FIG. 2 is wound by hand to the roll blank seen in FIG. 2 which then continues its journey against the lowered roller 7. Thereafter the winding event begins in the above-described manner.

The invention is not restricted only to the mode of application described above and illustrated in the drawings, but is variable in many ways within the patent claims. For instance, instead of eccenters one may use hydraulic or corresponding devices to give the rollers the movements described above.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for the manufacture of peat bands and peat band rolls comprising a conveyor belt for transporting the peat band roll and means for driving said conveyor belt, a pair of winding rolls positioned on opposite sides of and in contact with said peat band roll, said pair of winding rolls each being mounted on a lever arm, means for rotatably mounting each said lever arm to permit said winding rolls to move to accommodate the increasing size of the said peat band roll, means for moving the winding rolls out of contact with the said peat band roll after said peat band roll has reached a selected size comprising a pair of eccenters, each said eccenter being rotatable and mounted in lifting contact with a said lever arm, means for rotating said eccenters to lift said winding rolls to permit removal of the formed peat band roll.

2. The apparatus specified in claim 1 wherein each said lever arm comprises an extension arm fixedly mounted thereon, said eccenters being in contact with said extension arms.

3. The apparatus specified in claim 1 further comprising an axle to which said eccenters are fixedly mounted, means for rotating said axle to rotate said eccenters, the axle rotating means being connected to the means for driving said conveyor belt.

4. The apparatus specified in claim 3 further comprising ratchet means for connecting said axle to said axle rotating means, and means for permitting said axle and eccenters to complete only a single revolution each time said axle is connected to said axle rotating means.

winding rolls by said conveyor belt.

6. The apparatus specified in claim 5 wherein the eccenter controlling the upstream winding roll is shaped to permit the upstream winding roll to descend into contact with said new peat band roll after said new peat band roll has moved into position between the said winding rolls.

7. The apparatus specified in claim 5 further comprising a locking device for retaining the upstream winding roll in said first position, and means for releasing said locking device to permit said upstream winding roll to complete its descent into contact with said new peat band roll.

8. The apparatus specified in claim 1 wherein said eccenters are shaped to permit said winding rolls to lower toward said conveyor belt and into contact with a peat band roll after said eccenters have been rotated a selected amount, and brake means mounted in cooperating relationship with said eccenters to slow the rate of return of said winding rolls over a selected portion of the return movement of said winding rolls.

9. The apparatus specified in claim 8 wherein said brake means comprises a brake shoe and a circular plate for contacting said brake shoe, said circular plate being rotatable with said eccenters and eccentrically mounted for rotation, said brake shoe being contacted by said eccentrically rotated circular plate to brake the movement of said winding rolls only over a portion of the rotation of said circular plate.

10. The apparatus'specified in claim 1 further comprising a rubber sheet covering each of said winding rolls, each said rubber sheet having a plurality of peglike projections protruding therefrom. 

1. Apparatus for the manufacture of peat bands and peat band rolls comprising a conveyor belt for transporting the peat band roll and means for driving said conveyor belt, a pair of winding rolls positioned on opposite sides of and in contact with said peat band roll, said pair of winding rolls each being mounted on a lever arm, means for rotatably mounting each said lever arm to permit said winding rolls to move to accommodate the increasing size of the said peat band roll, means for moving the winding rolls out of contact with the said peat band roll after said peat band roll has reached a selected size comprising a pair of eccenters, each said eccenter being rotatable and mounted in lifting contact with a said lever arm, means for rotating said eccenters to lift said winding rolls to permit removal of the formed peat band roll.
 2. The apparatus specified in claim 1 wherein each said lever arm comprises an extension arm fixedly mounted thereon, said eccenters being in contact with said extension arms.
 3. The apparatus specified in claim 1 further comprising an axle to which said eccenters are fixedly mounted, means for rotating said axle to rotAte said eccenters, the axle rotating means being connected to the means for driving said conveyor belt.
 4. The apparatus specified in claim 3 further comprising ratchet means for connecting said axle to said axle rotating means, and means for permitting said axle and eccenters to complete only a single revolution each time said axle is connected to said axle rotating means.
 5. The apparatus specified in claim 1 wherein said eccenters comprise means for permitting said winding rolls to move downwardly toward said conveyor belt to position a new peat band roll to be formed between said eccenters, the eccenter controlling the winding roll upstream of the direction of movement of said conveyor belt being shaped to permit said upstream winding roll to move downwardly to a first position above that of the other winding roll to permit a subsequent peat band roll to be moved into position between said winding rolls by said conveyor belt.
 6. The apparatus specified in claim 5 wherein the eccenter controlling the upstream winding roll is shaped to permit the upstream winding roll to descend into contact with said new peat band roll after said new peat band roll has moved into position between the said winding rolls.
 7. The apparatus specified in claim 5 further comprising a locking device for retaining the upstream winding roll in said first position, and means for releasing said locking device to permit said upstream winding roll to complete its descent into contact with said new peat band roll.
 8. The apparatus specified in claim 1 wherein said eccenters are shaped to permit said winding rolls to lower toward said conveyor belt and into contact with a peat band roll after said eccenters have been rotated a selected amount, and brake means mounted in cooperating relationship with said eccenters to slow the rate of return of said winding rolls over a selected portion of the return movement of said winding rolls.
 9. The apparatus specified in claim 8 wherein said brake means comprises a brake shoe and a circular plate for contacting said brake shoe, said circular plate being rotatable with said eccenters and eccentrically mounted for rotation, said brake shoe being contacted by said eccentrically rotated circular plate to brake the movement of said winding rolls only over a portion of the rotation of said circular plate.
 10. The apparatus specified in claim 1 further comprising a rubber sheet covering each of said winding rolls, each said rubber sheet having a plurality of peg-like projections protruding therefrom. 